Mass transit is for the young

10:40 AM,
Feb. 25, 2014

Froma Harrop

Written by

Froma Harrop
Columnist

I frequently ride one of those cheap buses connecting my small city with a big city. At first, I expected my fellow passengers to be largely poor and old - the folks who can't afford to drive or are unable to.

I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Most are able-bodied, youngish adults taking the bus to save something more precious to them than money - their time. Like me, they spend the hours zoned out on their preferred media, thanks to mobile phones, tablets, laptops and the bus's Wi-Fi (when it works). Earplugs cocoon our brains in customized sound.